UN calls for more support to address CAR crisis

The UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos Friday underscored the severity of the crisis of Central African Republic (CAR) and appealed for enhanced efforts to cope with the humanitarian situation on the ground.

The UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos Friday underscored the severity of the crisis of Central African Republic (CAR) and appealed for enhanced efforts to cope with the humanitarian situation on the ground.

UN Under Secretary General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Amos told the reporters that the ongoing conflict led to a total breakdown of the state, Xinhua reported.

"The situation in the Central African Republic is extremely grave and urgent action is required by everyone if we are going to prevent further bloodshed,"said Amos.

UN statistics showed that 290,000 people fled to neighbouring countries including Cameroon, Chad, DRC and Republic of Congo, and the number of internally displaced people (IDP) in the crisis-torn African country reached a extremely high number of 650,000, including 232,000 IDPs in the capital Bangui alone.

The senior UN official noted the millions of people in CAR would be exposed to a looming food crisis and with the upcoming rainy season, to a risk of communicable diseases, having warned that a lack of funds for humanitarian assistance would push the crisis into a worse mire.

Amos stressed that out of the appealed $551 million for CAR crisis, only 16 percent have been funded. She called for more financial support to provide seeds and tools for people to plant, support the pre-positioning of stocks, support voluntary returns where possible, and improve conditions in IDP sites.

To better deal with the long-streched conflict, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recommended, in his report to the UN council Monday, that up to 10,000 soldiers, plus 1,820 police officers be deployed to CAR to protect civilians from armed militias, along with a civilian team to rebuild the state machinery.